Rancho High School Alumni Association

World Events

Six US embassy aides escape from Iran with Canadian help (Jan. 29). Background: Iran Hostage Crisis
US breaks diplomatic ties with Iran (April 7).
Eight US servicemen are killed and five are injured as helicopter and cargo plane collide in abortive desert raid to rescue American hostages in Teheran (April 25). Background: Iran Hostage Crisis
Anastasio Somoza Debayle, ousted Nicaraguan ruler, and two aides are assassinated in Paraguayan capital of Asunción (Sept. 17).
Iraqi troops hold 90 square miles of Iran after invasion; 8-year Iran-Iraq War begins (Sept. 19).
Three US nuns and a lay worker are found shot in El Salvador (Dec. 4).

U.S. Events

FBI Under Cover Operation "Abscam" (for Arab scam) implicates public officials (Feb. 2).
US Supreme Court upholds limits on federal aid for abortions (June 30).
Ronald Reagan elected president in Republican sweep (Nov. 4).

Economics

US GDP (1998 dollars):   $2,784.20 billion
Federal spending:   $590.95 billion
Federal debt:   $909.1 billion
Median Household Income
(current dollars):  $17,710
Consumer Price Index:   82.4
Unemployment:   7.1%
Cost of a first-class stamp:   $0.15

Sports

Super Bowl
Pittsburgh d. La Rams (31-19)

World Series
Philadelphia Phillies d. Kansas City (4-2)

NBA Championship
LA Lakers d. Philadelphia 76ers (4-2)

Stanley Cup
NY Islanders d. Philadelphia (4-2)

Wimbledon
Women: Evonne Cawley d. C. Evert Lloyd (6-1 7-6)
Men: Bjorn Borg d. J. McEnroe (1-6 7-5 6-3 6-7 8-6)

Kentucky Derby Champion
Genuine Risk

NCAA Basketball Championship
Louisville d. UCLA (59-54)

NCAA Football Champions
Georgia (12-0-0)

Entertainment

Events

John Lennon of the Beatles shot dead in New York City.
Ted Turner launches CNN, the first all-news network.
Mark Morris establishes the Mark Morris Dance Group in New York and is widely received as the most promising modern-dance choreographer of his generation.

Movies

Raging Bull, Ordinary People, Coal Miner's Daughter, The Elephant Man, Tess

Books

William Golding, Rites of Passage
John Kennedy Toole, A Confederacy of Dunces

Science

Janice Brown, a 98-lb. former teacher, makes the first long-distance solar-powered flight in the Solar Challenger. Background: Famous Firsts in Aviation
Voyager I reaches Saturn, returning data on its 14 moons as well as its more than 1,000 rings (November). Background: US Unstaffed Planetary and Lunar Programs
In Diamond v. Shakrabarty, the US Supreme Court rules that genetically engineered organisms may be patented.
Philadelphia's Wistar Institute develops a new, less painful rabies vaccine.

Deaths

William Douglas
Erich Fromm
Alfred Hitchcock
John Lennon
Jesse Owens
Jean Piaget
Jean-Paul Sartre
Mae West